Jama Mohammed Qalib (Somali: Jaamac Maxamed Qaalib) is a prominent author, former police chief and interior minister in the 1970s. He helped modernise Somalia’s police force at a crucial stage in the early 1970s when the military rule was in its early stages.

Mohammed Ibrahim Hadrawi (Somali: Maxamed Ibraahim Hadraawi) is a prominent Somali poet and songwriter. He is considered by many to be the greatest living Somali poet, having written many notable protest works.

Batulo Sheikh Ahmed Gabale (Somali: Batuulo Sheikh Axmed Gabaale) is current chairwoman of Ururka Haweenka Soomaaliyeed (Somali Women Organisation) and was a former deputy chairwoman of Ururka Dimoqoraadiga Haweenka Soomaaliyeed (Somali Women’s Democratic Organisation) of pre-1991 Somalia. She talked about the Somali women’s active involvement in the previous Somali government, their role, their mobilisation and how they managed to take […]

Abdullahi Abdirahman Sayid Mohammed (Somali: C/laahi C/raxmaan Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xassan,) is a former senior Somali ambassador in the Arab States (UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) from early 1970s to late 1980s and who incidently is the grandson of the anti-colonial leader Maxamed Cabdulle Xassan.

William Fullerton served as the British Ambassador to Somalia from 1983 to 1987. His previous posts include; Governor of the Falkand Islands and Ambassador to Morroco, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Some of his intriguing answers: “My wife and I were able to travel all over the country from the Kenya border to the one with Djibouti, though for some […]

Jon Snow joined ITN in 1976 and became Washington Correspondent in 1984. Since then, he has travelled the world to cover the news – from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela, to Barack Obama’s inauguration and the earthquake in Haiti. Jon Snow first visited Somalia in 1976 and returned a few dozen times after […]

Surer Abshir Muse Haman (Somali: Sureer Abshir Muuse Hamaan). Apart from being the sister of Somalia’s chief of police (Gen. Mohammed Abshir Muuse), she was a deputy ambassador to London prior to the total collapse of the state. Western-educated and the first female Somali political prisoner in the early 1970s, she was one of the founders of SSDF movement and […]

Abdirahman Mohammed Abtidoon (Somali: C/raxmaan Maxamed Abtidoon). Only a fraction of Somalia’s population could read or write in the early 1970s. So the Somali government launched a hugely ambitious literacy campaign. What was unusual was that many of the teachers were schoolchildren – sent into the countryside to teach adults. Somalia became the only country (and a prime example) to […]

Asayr Abdulqadir Farah (Somali: Casayr C/qaadir Faarax) is a senior SNM (Somali National Movement) veteran and one of its founding fathers. A former Somali Air Force pilot, he tendered his resignation in 1979 and was part of the early consultations of SNM in Saudi Arabia ’till its official launch in London. He narrated his military history prior to SNM and […]

Abdullahi Abdulle Dhore (Somali: Cabdullaahi Cabdulle Dhoore) is a Somali veteran (1977-78 war) who was captured by the Ethiopians in 1978 after his platoon was pinned down. Shot nine-times and almost bleeding out, he was transferred to the notorious Harar prison – a prison infamously known as the “prison of no return”. Sharing prison cells with hundreds of Somali POWS, […]

Maryan Mursal Isse (Somali: Maryam Mursal Ciise). Mursal grew up in Somalia in a Muslim family with four daughters. As a teenager, she broke with tradition and began singing professionally in Mogadishu. She performed in nightclubs and her brand of music, featuring a mix of blues, soul, Somali and Arabic influences, and known as Somali jazz, became popular across the […]

Adan Mohamed Ali (Somali: Aadan Maxamed Cali), is the longest serving Education Minister in pre-civil war Somalia. He oversaw the development of Somalia’s educational sector that led to the rapid surge in literacy in the country and the Somalisation of many foreign materials. His past posts include: Secretary General of Somali Trade Union (Xoghayihii Ururka Shaqaalaha) (1966 – 1969) Head […]

Abdulkadir Ali Bolay (Somali: Cabdulqaadir Cali Boolay) is a former Somali freedom fighter, one of Somalia’s first journalists and former head of Coriera della Somalia, New Era, Unione, Stella di Octobre (Xiddigta Oktoobar) newspapers, former deputy mayor of Mogadishu (Muqdisho), former SYL and SNL member and one of the very few men alive today that can proudly say to have […]

Ahmed Suleiman Abdalla ‘Dafle’ (Somali: Axmed Suleymaan Cabdalla ‘Dafle’) had been one of the main architects of the military coup of 1969. He founded and directed Somalia’s first National Security Service (NSS) for thirteen years; had served as minister of the interior; and is also a son-in-law of late Somali leader Mohammed Siad Barre.

Updates

‘Kacaan: The Untold Stories’ is a Forthcoming Somali Documentary Film ‘Kacaan: The Untold Stories’ is a forthcoming Somali documentary film. Somalia has been without a functioning central government since the Siad Barre regime fell in 1991. The documentary film will highlight and independently gaze at the backdrop of the Somali civil war and its origins with a particular emphasis on […]

This is the official website for the upcoming Somali documentary, Kacaan: The Untold Stories. Whilst it is in work in progress, the website will serve as a portal for the latest updates and video snippets of the latest interviews conducted. So stay tuned and keep checking periodically for the latest updates.

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